It is a great honour to be selected to be apart of the Fitness Universe.com cover girls. I am proud to be apart of such a great series of beautiful, athletically talented and intelligent women.

Like some girls in the sport, I had a background in gymnastics, but was mainly involved in cheerleading. After university ended, I saw a fitness competition on TV, and had the ‘hey I could do that’ moment. A friend of mine new that I was interested in competing, but I did not know where they held these competitions, until she brought me a new magazine - Oxygen. I was able to find a small competition in my area, but now I would have to train/diet and did not know where to begin. There was no one around competing in fitness, and the Internet was just in its preliminary stages. I did question a few ex-bodybuilders, but their diet just seemed too restrictive, so I managed on my own (basically trial and error). I trained for 2 months, competed with myself and another girl, and won! But that one show, no matter how small, was significant in my development into the competitor I am today.

Creating the routine was something I enjoyed, and was familiar with, but the challenging part was developing the physique. I knew that time was on my side, as I was only 21 starting out, and needed to patient, learn and read anything and everything I could get my hands on about fitness. I read, trained, asked questions, sent emails and was able to discover great organizations in fitness (such as World Natural Sports Organization, who eventually introduced me to Fitness America) but also how similar my personality matched that of the other women. I finally found a place outside of university where I felt like I belong. I had missed this sense of ‘community’ from back in the cheerleading days, when having teammates to encourage you was a great motivator. Even now, I still suffer from the “oh my gosh! Look its…..” syndrome. I see many of the girls in the magazines and still cannot believe that we are at a show together.

During the past fours years, I have learned so many things when it comes to competing in fitness, but I made many mistakes along the way. For instance, tanning was my biggest challenge. I thought a couple of coats of self-tanner made me look great, little did I know how bright those stage lights were. I tried to diet once while eating donuts every second day. This did not work. I also tried to drink diet soda while in training. Nope this doesn’t work either. Eating clean is essential to getting the ‘fitness’ look that so many are striving towards. Here are a few tricks that I have found keep my hand out of the fridge/cupboard.

- If you can’t eat, it don’t buy it (this is more for the unmarried without children women, as I know that when you are dieting – sometimes it seems like the whole family is dieting)
- Brush your teeth – who wants to mess up a clean mouth
- Kitchen is closed after your last meal – i.e. 7:30. No admittance. Put a piece of tape over your cupboard to keep you out.
- Clean – it seems really over the top but my house is never been cleaner than when I am dieting – plus you are burning more calories.
- Do something to occupy your hands – do your nails, organize the photo album
- Talk on the phone, catch up on emails, read a new book/magazine

For now I am working full-time as a high school math teacher, and trying to train full-time. It is hard and my days are full and hectic, but once I get up on stage and perform, I realize that it is all worth it. Fitness for me is a half hobby, half full-time job. I have managed to get a couple of shoots with Oxygen magazine, and have picked up a sponsor with Prolab Nutrition in Canada. As long as I can say that I have progressed from one year to the next, I know I am on the right path. The minute this seems more like work than fun is when I know my time is up and I need to put my focus elsewhere.

Questions? You can contact me here.

To all my fellow competitors – I cannot wait to see you all again and meet some new faces. Until the Universe….

Allison Ethier